Elon Musk has rattled European leaders including Ursula von der Leyen, says Pieter Cleppe. (Image: Getty)
is “out for payback” against the European Union (EU) and its leaders after becoming frustrated at what he sees as their attempt to “blackmail” social media platforms such as X, a conservative academic has claimed.
Another Brussels-based critic believes the tech billionaire is sending a clear signal to centre-Left European politicians who have been knocked off balance by his belligerent stance.
Mr Musk – who campaigned hard for US president-elect – has openly criticised the EU and individual European leaders in the past. He has often used his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to do so.
His objections have focused on various aspects of European governance, regulatory frameworks, and political figures.
He has branded German chancellor an “incompetent fool” and urged him to resign, while also describing German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier as an “anti-democratic tyrant” while voicing support for the far-Right AfD.
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He has likewise labelled the European Commission, led by president , as undemocratic while calling for more power to reside in the European Parliament.
Outside of the bloc, the 54-year-old has also hurled multiple digital barbs at Sir , even suggesting the UK PM should be in prison in the aftermath of last year’s Southport triple stabbing in which three children were killed.
Frank Furedi, executive director of the MCC Brussels think tank, told Express.co.uk: “I think in many ways, as far as he’s concerned, this is payback time.
“He feels that the European Commission, particularly, but also supported by these heads of governments, have been extremely provocative almost to the point of blackmailing various kind of social media platforms, regulating them and then regulating them again and insisting that they basically become subservient to their rules.
“They’ve told Meta and X that unless they played by their rules, they’re going to be excluded from Europe, and they’re going to shut them down. So I think that he feels a sense of anger.”
Olaf Scholz has been branded an ‘incompetent fool’ by Elon Musk (Image: Getty)
Asked what Mr Musk’s likely objectives were, Mr Furedi, a Hungarian-Canadian academic and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent, said: “He’s already a major global player, and he’s trying to sort of provide for himself that kind of global platform where he’s not just simply a big American company, but an international one.”
It was probable that Mr Musk was testing the waters, Mr Furedi suggested, adding: “He’ll push as far as he can, but in the end, he’s a pragmatic businessman, and I’m fairly sure that pragmatism will have the last word.”
Mr Musk’s bullish remarks have undoubtedly ruffled feathers in capitals across the continent, Mr Furedi acknowledged, with leaders uncertain how to respond.
He continued: “I think it’s both personal, in that he doesn’t think very highly of these individuals, and it’s also transactional.
“He holds these people in contempt for not really achieving very much and so he’s basically decided that he’s in a position where he can call them out and demonstrate that he is a real player, rather than the second-rate political leaders.”
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Sir Keir Starmer has also been strongly criticised by Elon Musk (Image: Getty)
Meanwhile when it came to Sir Keir, Mr Musk’s remarks reflected a cultural and ideological gulf, Mr Furedi argued.
He said: “There is a fundamental sharp clash of values here. So if you can imagine, in Musk’s eyes, you know, Starmer is a bit like someone like Nick Clegg.
“And so there is a kind of certain history of mutual dislike. I think that what Musk is basically trying to do is to settle scores with his detractors in Europe.”
Publicly, European leaders including Sir Keir, Mr Scholz, Ms von der Leyen, and French president Emmanuel Macron have voiced their willingness to work with both Mr Trump and Mr Musk. However, Pieter Cleppe, editor of , said it was clear all were rattled.
Tensions between Mr Musk and various European leaders stemmed from their fundamental hostility towards “the ever-increasing role of social media, like X, in news provision”, Mr Cleppe explained.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump, who returned to the White House on Monday (Image: Getty)
He added: “In most European countries, the state has great control over media, often indirectly, via subsidies, apart from the presence of lavishly funded state broadcasters.
“Particularly since has taken over Twitter, renaming it to X and ending shadow banning for anyone that is not centre-Left, European policymakers feel that their narrative in favour of centre-left policies is much harder to promote.”
Consequently, criticism of high taxes, migration, a perceived lack of security and crackdowns on free speech were now being amplified in a much more powerful way than previously, Mr Cleppe pointed out.
He said: “Musk going after single government leaders, in the UK and in Germany, is making those centre-left politicians even more angry.
“At the end, however, their only option is to opt for an ever more authoritarian crackdown on social media, if they want it to stop, certainly now that Meta has jumped on Musk’s bandwagon following the election of . It is unlikely European citizens will accept that.”